During the course of flight, a lot of messages are exchanged between a flight crew and a ground station or air traffic controller (ATC). Communication between ATC and an aircraft is often tactical and related to the ATC managing traffic in a given airspace. Tactical communication between the flight crew on an aircraft and ATC generally occurs over a prearranged communication medium. In an example, wireless messages may be transmitted from the ATC to an aircraft as a data uplink, and from the aircraft to the ATC as a data downlink. Examples of uplink messages from ATC stations include route clearances, lateral diversions, vertical diversions, speed changes, route modifications, etc. In the future, most of the ATC to aircraft communication may be carried out through digital media i.e., as controller pilot data link communication (CPDLC) messages. CPDLC allows the flight crew to request deviations to, or replacements of, the current active trajectory or filed flight plan (FP). The CPDLC also allows the ATC to directly request tactical changes to the current active trajectory or FP. Therefore, the CPDLC provides air/ground communications between an aircraft and an ATC station.
Currently, on an aircraft, a combination of on-board avionics and external sources validate the current active flight trajectory and recommend changes based thereon to the flight crew in the cockpit. Information regarding the validated current active flight trajectory and recommended changes may be dissipated in real-time via a defined communication protocol, such as voice messaging or datalink messages that are hosted in a CPDLC application. Generally, this information is presented to a flight crew using a multi-function display (MFD) or multi-function control display unit (MCDU), to which the crew needs access to understand and take appropriate action when needed. However, time spent watching the MFD/MCDU for real-time information is head-down time, and head-down time may decrease flight crew situation awareness.
Accordingly, technologically enhanced systems and methods capable of reducing head-down time while continuing to provide crucial, relevant clearance request information are desirable. In particular, it is desirable to provide the crew with a mechanism for time-based visualization of relevant clearance requests, i.e., predicted clearance request information for a selected future time. Technical effects of this desired system include reduced head-down time, increased pilot control of the occurrence of head-down time, and an ability for a flight crew to negotiate with ATC for a clearance request, and an overall improved pilot-machine interface. The following disclosure provides these technological enhancements, in addition to addressing related issues.